Decreasing prices in agriculture

In October 2008 the producer price level of agricultural products was 16.5% lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year – said the Hungarian Statistic Office.

 More specifically, the price level of
crops and horticultural products decreased by 32.6%, while that of
live animals and animal products increased by 7.4%. The producer
price level of agricultural products went up by 2.9% in the period of
January–October 2008 compared to the first ten months of the
previous year as a result of the price decrease of crops and
horticultural products by 6.8% and the price rise of live animals and
animal products by 16.1%.

In October 2008 the producer prices of
cereals fell by 44.3% compared to the same month of the previous
year. The average procurement price of wheat was 35.7 HUF/kg this
month which fell to 37.5 HUF/kg in July at the beginning of the
harvest season after the permanent high price level in the first half
of the year, and since then it has changed only to a minor extent.
Meanwhile the price of maize, which was 35.5 HUF/kg back in August
declined to 25.5 HUF/kg by October. It is worth noting that a
significant portion of maize sales takes place in October and
November.

The producer price of oil seeds
decreased by 15.2% compared to October of the previous year, within
which the average price of sunflower seed went down from a price
level of more than 100 HUF/kg during the summer to 76.5 HUF/kg in
October. The producer prices of potatoes went down by 25% compared to
the same month of the previous year.

In the tenth month of the year the
prices of fresh vegetables increased by 3.1% compared to October of
the previous year. Among the products having the most significant
weight the prices of sweet pepper and bonnet pepper rose (by 24.7%
and 3.2%, respectively), while the prices of vegetables having lower
weight, such as carrots and turnip, dropped (by 8.5% and 29.7%,
respectively) in this period.

The producer price decrease of fruits
(41.8%) in this month was influenced mainly by two products. The
prices of apples fell by 66.1% compared to October of the previous
year because of the considerable increase in the volume of
procurement. The procurement price of apples was 15.4 HUF/kg in
October, which was dominantly influenced by the price trend of
products to be processed in industry. The other product having
significant weight was wine grapes. Their producer price went down by
21.5% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The producer price increase of live
animals (12.6%) stemmed from the price rises of pigs for slaughter,
poultry for slaughter and cattle for slaughter by 25.5%, 1.5% and
2.8%, respectively. Within the 0.6% price decrease of animal products
the producer price of fresh eggs went up by 5.5%, while that of milk
diminished by 2.8% compared to October of the previous year. The
procurement price of milk declined from its peak of January (96.5
HUF/l) to 76.7 HUF/l in October.

In January–October 2008 the average
producer price of cereals was 10.3% lower than in the same period of
the previous year. In the first ten months of the year the price
level of industrial crops exceeded that measured in the period of
January–October 2007 by 11.4%. The prices of potatoes decreased by
12.4% in the same period.

Fresh vegetable prices went up by 8.9%,
while fruit prices diminished by 21.1% as measured against the
corresponding period of the previous year.

The producer prices of live animals
were 15.0% higher than in January–October 2007. A significant price
increase could be observed in case of poultry for slaughter (17.9%)
and pigs for slaughter (16.0%), while prices of cattle for slaughter
rose only to a minor extent (2.6%). Compared to the first ten months
of the previous year the average producer price level of animal
products went up by 17.7%; more specifically, the producer prices of
milk and fresh eggs rose by 19.1% and 15.3%, respectively.